MCI Communications Corporation Records

About this collection

This collection includes approximately 5000 selected pages and images from the archives of the William G. McGowan / MCI Comminications Corporation collection at the Hagley Library.

William G. McGowan (1927-1992) was the driving force behind the success and innovation of MCI. He was born in the small coal mining and railroad town of Ashley, Pennsylvania. After serving in the U.S. Army, he attended Kings College in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and then received an MBA from Harvard University. McGowan joined MCI in 1968 and immediately pushed for the company to go nationwide with microwave telecommunications services at low prices. To do so, he took on the AT&T monopoly, mainly through a series of regulatory and legal battles. Successful antitrust litigation against AT&T transformed the previously regulated telecommunications industry into a business open to competition. MCI adapted to industry changes to become one of the largest providers of telecommunications services in the world. McGowan was known as the face of MCI and as the man who took on Ma Bell and won.

This digital collection documents McGowan's widely recognized role in reshaping the telecommunications industry and his deep involvement in various aspects of MCI's operations.